Inspired by the principles of Malcolm X / Malik El-Hajj Shabazz. A 'Third Worldist' perspective focusing on the increasing pace of south-south co-operation which is challenging and defeating neo-colonial hegemony, and the struggles of those oppressed by neo-colonialism and white supremacy (racism) who fight for their social, political and cultural freedom 'by any means necessary'

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Thursday, 18 November 2010

BLACK LIBERATION IN BRAZIL

New census data show two million more Brazilians nowdescribe themselves as black than did so ten years ago, when “theyhad said that were not blacks, but 'mestiços' or 'mulattos,' acategory more favored, socially.” This is, the author believes, asignificant number, proof of the deep impact of the blackconsciousness movement and Brazil's relatively recent affirmativeaction programs. At the same time, “slowly but consistently, whitepeople are admitting the real face of a segregationist and racistBrazil.”

Early last October, the work of the last Brazilian census had not yetbeen finished, but we already knew that our adult black populationhad grown two percentage points, from 5% to 7%, over the last tenyears. (In Brazil, black people are officially considered a categoryapart from the racially mixed population.) For those who know Braziland know that the country has the largest black population in theworld, after only Nigeria, these numbers may seem surprisingly small.

And these people may also ask how could this have happened? The newpersons who were born in this so short period of time - 10 years -are not adult enough to be included by the census collector. So,where did those two percentage points came from? Before answering,let’s explore another fundamental question: 7% is a small,insignificant number? The answer may be Yes and No, as it depends onwhom is reading it. Numbers are not geographic symbols but, as theydon’t lie, they are the most powerful kind of authority we have toprove something, although our sense about their meaning may varyaccording to different national criteria. If you are Brazilian, 7% isvery small, considering a population of 190 million people. But forthose people in the world who deal with racial discrimination andracism, it will never be insignificant. The census, made by theInstituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística-IBGE, doesn’texplain, as it is not its official business to make considerationsabout the development of racial awareness, but that difference of 2points shows that, now, two million more people are accepting andproclaiming their real color. Ten years ago, when another census tookplace, they had said that were not blacks, but “mestiços” or“mulattos,” a category more favored, socially. That difference isgood proof that racial consciousness is growing in Brazil, whichmeans that more and more black people are not ashamed of their racialidentity, and, not statistically but ethnically speaking, twopercentage points is a big and significant number. But there is moreabout that.

These 7% might be added to 45% of those who said to the collectorthat they are mulattos, and the result will be a population of 52% ofblacks and mulattos, and 49% of whites. So, in an American sense, theBrazilian black population is now larger than the white one. In theBrazilian sense, as was said, blacks and biracial are two differentcategories. Another number that Census shows, 2%, refers to peoplewho, 10 years ago, said to the collector that they were white, but,now, they want to change their category, some choosing to bemestiços, some mulattos, some indigenous. These are verylight-skinned black persons who used to pass as white, but now arenot ashamed to declare their real origin. They don’t want to bewhite, anymore. (A good question would be “Why would a light-skinnedperson want to pass as white?” Well, I don’t want to answer, becausemy words wouldn’t be sympathetic to them.) So, the Brazilian blackpopulation not only is the second largest in the world, but alsoexhibits the record of being the most mixed. In this sense, itreserves first place. Mulattos, in Brazil, are, mainly, a product ofthe Portuguese, who colonized the country, and the Africans, broughtthere to be slaves. And this mixture was always so dense that, inslavery times, there were more mulattos than today, proportionally tothe total population. But the readers must not take this lastinformation as a sign of racial liberalism from the Portuguese side,because it actually hides violence, a crime.

Speaking about crime, in this aspect, Brazilian and American slaveryhistories are similar. Both are full of cases of rape. At that time,it was common among landlords to take enslaved women as concubines.In Brazil, this practice was more open than in U.S., but, to take thebest of American examples, we can ask: Did Sally Hemings love ThomasJefferson? Those seven children were sons of sexual consent? If Sallyreally loved him, would she impose some conditions to return fromFrance to Virginia with him, as she did? Jefferson agreed with thoseconditions and set her (their) children free, just like Brazilianlandlords used to protect their bastard sons, giving them much bettertreatment. This was a natural behavior, so common that until todayboth societies make a difference between blacks and mulattos, givingto the latter a higher social status. What contemporary Brazilian andAmerican whites don’t realize is that, by doing so, they are simplymodernly repeating what their ancestors, owners of slaves, used todo.

In Brazil, in the time of slavery, the mulattos were chosen to bewhat was called Capitães do mato (bush captains), the leading huntersof fugitives slaves in the forests and responsible for chasing thoseones walking in the streets in the cities. That was a job that gavesome privileges to them, as they were not in the fields nor in thebig houses, but seen as the protector of the interests of whiteowners of slaves. But the position also gave them the very badreputation of being enemies of black people. The social order isself-reproductive. If nothing is done to change it, in terms of arevolt, the imposition of a law or the exposure of positive rolemodels, the social order repeats the same pattern of the society,eternally, just like it is. So, as changes don’t happen overnight,the culture of slavery perpetuated many old customs, making thatinstitution not as remote as we would like. And, today, the capitãesdo mato have disappeared, as they are not necessary, anymore, becauseof the end of slavery, but, more than one century later, in theirplaces, a big majority of soldiers of the Brazilian military statepolice, is comprised of mulattos. These are the police in charge ofinvading huts in favelas and of chasing poor people in the streets,mainly blacks, asking them for identification cards and arrestingthose who cannot prove that they have a regular job. Black peoplehate them. It is history, if not just repeating itself, making a kindof parody.

Until today, there is not an explanation for that change of attitude

made by the “new blacks.” Can it be an effect of the Affirmative

Action? Maybe. Affirmative Action came to Brazilaround 2003, when a university in Rio de Janeiro adopted the firstBrazilian system of quotas for students originating from publicschools, blacks and indigenous people. Since then, the discussionabout race, discrimination and racism provoked remarkable changes inthe false image of a racial democracy Brazil has maintained since theabolition of slavery. Slowly but consistently, white people areadmitting the real face of a segregationist and racist Brazil. Butthe quota system is also a university success. The last research madeby the Universidade Federal da Bahia states: “…the quota students’performance improves every year. The poorer the students, the bettertheir progress.” Brazil is a young country, with a juvenileenthusiasm in many senses, without answers or even research, yet,about its most important questions, like those about “new blacks.”Few people care about who makes Brazil what it is, and for whom. Ofcourse, we are not so innocent as to not know that Brazil is evolvingwithin a permanent conflict of huge cultural, political and economicinterests that we have already identified and we are learning how todeal with its resistances, changes and tricks, like the disguisedface of the modern capitaes do mato. Slowly but consistently, we arepushing ahead and improving an Affirmative Action that came late.

And, for a developing country, it is comforting to know that somedifficult questions, so important for tracing a right and quick roadto a really democratic future, are not being answered even indeveloped countries.

Italo Ramos is a Brazilian journalist. He can be contacted atiramos@cy.com.br

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